PRACTICE MANAGER - PROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENTWe have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Practice Manager to join our Property and Development team in our Melbourne office. The purpose of the role is to manage the delivery of legal support services within the practice group and to continually improve the quality of legal support services for the Property and Development Practice (P&D) Group.The successful candidate will have a minimum of three - four years supervisory experience within a Property and Development team in a mid to large size firm.Primary Duties and ResponsibilitiesLegal Support Management
- Manage the legal support team to ensure legal support services are maintained and operating efficiently.
- Monitor legal support workloads and allocate resources appropriately.
- Manage legal support rosters, including office attendance (in accordance with Firm direction) and overtime approvals.
- Coordinate support to cover for legal support staff leave.
- Conduct regular legal support group meetings.
- Recruitment of legal support staff, with relevant principal.
- Conduct probationary reviews for legal support staff, to include feedback obtained from principals and lawyers.
- Monitor the performance of legal support staff and where appropriate implement strategies to address areas of improvement (in conjunction with the relevant principal and support from P&C).
- Assist with overflow work from Legal Support team.
- Act as the first point of contact for Property and Development queries.
- Manage leave and flexible working applications for all team members (for final approval by PG Leader) and communication of leave arrangements with team members.
- Assist PG Leader with management of fee earners including probationary reviews, performance management, recruitment and Development.
- Identify learning and Development training requirements of all team members and coordinate the provision of appropriate training with the Learning & Development team. Coordinate internal lunch and learn sessions.
- Ensure the successful onboarding and training of all new team members.
- Liaise with Caseflow developers and IT team to maintain the relevant Caseflow, eContract systems and precedents.
- PEXA, Duties Online and SPEAR administration.
- Prepare invoicing and costing of files in accordance with relevant guidelines.
- Act as a role model for information security. As well as setting an example of good practice, management responsibilities
- include ensuring that employees, relevant contractors and supplier are aware of their responsibilities, and attend Information Security training were appropriate in accordance with ISO 27001, control A.6.3.
- Finance - Follow up on missing time sheets, new matter estimates (where not completed), matter estimates where actual in excess of 80% to check estimate still valid, debtor management and allocation of outstanding credit card transactions. Coordinate reallocation of matters and legal support when a team member leaves.
- Business Development - Support on resourcing for tenders, ensuring legal assistants are trained to support lawyers with credential capture.
- Strategic Operations -- Act as the point of coordination for all major projects that impact the Practice Group, including engagement in key project stages as required, change management & communication.Meet with Director - Strategic Operations and other Practice Managers/Practice Group Administrators monthly to discuss firm wide activities and share peer insights & knowledge across the teams.
- Risk & Legal - Be the information owner for ISMS as related to the practice group.
- Office Services - Coordinate onboarding requirements for new starters and ongoing office related activities such as staff movements and implementation of relevant workplace adjustments.
- People & Culture - Act as the point of contact for all staff requirements including office locations, onboarding, supervisor allocations, induction training etc.
- Wide knowledge of the Property and Development practice.
- Excellent organisational skills.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Attention to detail.
- Advanced knowledge of MS Word for Windows, knowledge of PowerPoint and internet web skills.
- Filesite and CaseFlow knowledge or equivalent system knowledge is essential.
- Experience with PEXA essential.
- Excellent literacy.